HOUSTON (AP) - A jury handed the death penalty verdict to a Houston man convicted of capital murder for killing two people 10 years ago. A Harris County jury deliberated for less than five hours Tuesday before deciding that Lucky Ward should be handed a death penalty, not life in prison without parole, for strangling a transgender woman, Charlie Rodriguez, and a homeless woman, Reita Long, in 2010. The Houston Chronicle reports the jury last week convicted Ward of murder, and on Tuesday, it agreed with prosecutors on that Ward continues to be a threat to society. Texas law allows death sentences to be appealed automatically.

Copyright 2020 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.